Within the manufacturing arena, academics use the term "task interdependence" to describe the manner in which different business units are reliant upon one another during the production phase. Pooled, reciprocal and sequential relationships are the three types of interdependent relationships that the American scholar James Thompson identified. Many academics still categorize manufacturing processes using Thompson's models.

Pooled

Pooled interdependence within the manufacturing sector involves groups of employees working independently to produce a certain product. Employees of a clothing firm may use the same machines to cut, dye and sew fabrics. At the end of each shift, the firm may package items that were produced by many employees into one box and ship those finished goods to the same store. The workers depend on one another to produce enough goods to meet the firm's daily production goals, but each worker can produce an item of clothing without the assistance of a coworker. Therefore, different people and business units have minimal contact during the production phase.

Reciprocal

In a reciprocal relationship, no one person or business unit can manufacture an item without the involvement of another person or unit. Furthermore, in this type of setup, items normally pass back and forth between the same units multiple times during the production phase. At a car manufacturing plant, the vehicle may pass between the electronics department and the steel workers several times as workers in both areas gradually add components to each vehicle.

Sequential

Assembly lines are one example of sequential task interdependence at a manufacturing firm. In a furniture producing plant, one employee may construct the wooden frame before passing a couch onto a second worker who adds the springs. A third worker may add cushions and stuffing before a fourth worker adds the couch cover. The production process must follow a logical sequence since you cannot add the cover or the stuffing until you have already created the frame and installed the springs.

Considerations

Many people think of task interdependence within the confines of a single manufacturing plant but, in the modern era, interdependent relationships often involve multiple production plants. Computer manufacturing firms may employ workers in different locations to produce certain computer components, and the people involved in this production process are involved in a pooled relationship. However, within each plant, various workers may be involved in sequential or reciprocal relationships that fall within a single segment of the overall production process. Additionally, the development of new technologies means that firms can sometimes streamline processes and assign more responsibilities to fewer individuals. Therefore, interdependent relationships within the manufacturing sector tend to evolve over time.